Question 12.4

Last updated 28/04/2017 - 18:07
 Topic: Neurology and Neurosurgery
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List 4 clinical signs, (not involving the limbs) of cerebellar dysfunction.

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College Answer

1. Nystagmus
2. Titubation (head bobbing)
3. Truncal ataxia
4. Staccato speech
5. Dysarthria
6. Hypotonia
7. Kinetic tremor

Discussion

This is cheating, because kinetic tremor and hypotonia are difficult to test without involving the limbs.

Walker, in the below-linked book chapter, identifies the following signs:

  • Titubation
  • Resting tremor of the trunk
  • Trunkal ataxia
  • Nystagmus
  • Ocular dysmetria (the eyes overshooting the target of their gaze)
  • Impaired smooth tracking of gaze
  • Stacatto speech
  • Dysarthria (ataxia of speech)
 

References

Walker, Henry Kenneth, Wilbur Dallas Hall, and John Willis Hurst. Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations. Chapter 69, by Kenneth Walker. Butterworths, 1990.

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